


All good things (Come to an end)

by momopichu



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wolf
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-08-10 09:30:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7839526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/momopichu/pseuds/momopichu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wolf!au (for more, see notes)</p>
<p>A white wolf cannot hide. A wolf that cannot hide cannot hunt. A wolf that cannot hunt is useless to the pack.</p>
<p>Jack is a white wolf on the grasslands of Mongolia. Shunned by his fellow wolves, he's forced to make his way in the world.<br/>That is until he meets a big black wolf called Gabriel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All good things

**Author's Note:**

> I had qualms about uploading this. On one hand it uses Overwatch characters, but on the other it's using them in a setting that isn't anything remotely similar to the original canon universe. For one, they're all wolves...Even though they do share their respective personalities. Ok whatever, I hope I've written well enough and I hope you like it x_x
> 
> P.S. I didn't tag any relationships because I didn't see the need to. If you feel like this should change, leave me a comment o.o

_A white wolf cannot hide. A wolf that cannot hide cannot hunt. A wolf that cannot hunt is useless to the pack._   
  
Jack left his birth-pack at six moons old. Chased by those he once called his litter-mates, their breath hot on his rump, their howls echoing in his ears. He flees for three full days and nights to escape the territory he once called his home. Paws aching, breath rasping in his throat, he made his way north across the endless plains. When he finally stopped to rest, his body burnt, his mind reeled. He laid in the river, letting the icy trickle stream over his tired body.   
  
Few wolves had the colouration he had, a full white pelt that glowed like snow on mountain tops. It made it harder - much harder - for him to hunt. Under the sun, he was a shining beacon that warned prey of his arrival. Under the moon, he was a white speck glowing on a dark plain, useless. And that was why he was driven out.   
  
No pack to hunt with, no pack to sing with. A lone wolf.   
  
An outcast.   
  
His lonely howl rings mournfully through the grassy planes. Not even the wind was there to return his song.   
  
\---   
  
The insistent rumbling of his belly only served to fuel his resolve. Jack was determined to make this work, despite all they had told him - that he was a white wolf, that he could not hunt, that he was useless. Getting up onto the tree had been the first step. Claws scrabbling on the rough bark, he had hoisted himself above a place that smelt distinctly of antelope. In truth, he had little hope that he could bring down the large animal by himself - but he had to try. If his white pelt could be seen from far away, he just had to make sure no one could see him before he struck.   
  
It was that simple. Supposedly.   
  
The rustling of the tall grass announced the presence of the antelope. The large horned-beast sauntered forward, thin ears flicking away the flies that came to badger its face. Jack tensed, his own ears angled forward in full alert. A white shadow hidden amongst the canopy. The antelope moved slowly, picking its way carefully through the undergrowth. At the base of the tree, it lowered its head to nibble at the grass.   
  
Jack pounced.   
  
He lands squarely upon the antelope's back, a quick shower of leaves following his descent. The landing jars him momentarily, but he quickly adjusts, sinking thorn-sharp claws into the other animal's back. The antelope brays in panic - the sound scathing on his sensitive ears - before bucking. Kicking the air, twisting and whirling, the motion shakes Jack to his bones but he holds on. Lunging forward, he closes his teeth around the antelope's neck.   
  
The antelope _screeches_ , leaping into the air and kicking out with its back-hooves. For a moment Jack feels as if he's flying, and then the landing. It throws him off, his claws lose their purchase, scoring deep red scars on the antelope's pelt. Through it all, he keeps his jaws locked tight around the thrashing animal's neck.   
  
If he could just weaken it...   
  
And then it does the thing he least expects. The antelope falls on its side, a quick twist and Jack is being crushed under the other animal's weight. The air escapes his lungs in a quick puff and his teeth release their grip on the antelope's neck. Before he can recover, the antelope is back on its hooves and fleeing through the undergrowth.   
  
He lays there and watches the other animal go, his white fur is ruffled from the struggle, bits of twigs and leaves are threaded in the snowy pelt.   
  
_A failed hunt. How pathetic._   
  
Blue eyes drooped and then closed. _A failure_ .The words echoing within his skull like a mantra, he was a white wolf. He could not hunt. _How useless_ .   
  
The sudden thrashing snaps him from his thoughts. His eyes blink open and he is hobbling to his paws. Still throbbing from his tousle, he warily limps after the escaped antelope - towards the sound of struggle.   
  
The sight that greets him is nothing short of surprising. There was his antelope, now lying dead on the grassy floor - blood seeping from a deep toothy bite to the neck. And then there was the black wolf with amber eyes. Strong and muscular, the black wolf surrounded himself with power as a bird would wrap its wings about its body. Jack's ears flip back and down, the black wolf stretches his maws in a toothy grin, revealing blood-soaked canines.   
  
Slowly, the black wolf licks away the blood, smacking his jaws at the taste of antelope. Amber eyes watch Jack as an owl watches its prey.   
  
Jack stifles the growl that rises deep in his throat. His blue eyes take in the bulging muscles on the black wolf's shoulders, the graceful curve of his back, the bright alluring amber eyes and most of all, the jet black pelt. Groomed and glossy, it felt as if a piece of the night sky had chosen to walk on the earth.   
  
Jack takes a tentative step back, head dipping into a bow. He knows he can't take on the black wolf, not when he's injured and starving. Silently he curses himself, having his prey escape was one thing, but to have it stolen-   
  
"That was an interesting hunting technique," the black wolf commented, ears flicking to the side. "Where did you learn it?"   
  
Jack's head snaps up. The heat that builds up under his white fur is an odd feeling, he shuffles his fore paws uncertainly. "I just thought of it," he mumbles.   
  
The black wolf scoffs, padding forward on four strong legs to inspect Jack. He circles the smaller wolf, amber eyes gliding up and down the white fur, from the tip of his ears, to the tip of his tail. Abruptly, the black wolf pushes his muzzle into Jack's scruff.   
  
"What are you doing!?" Jack snarls. He leaps back, pawing at the offended spot. The feel of hot breath and the smell of the other wolf clinging to him. He's flushed under his fur, deftly he turns to groom down his rising hackles.   
  
The black wolf chuckles, a throaty sound that rumbles deep in his body. A leaf is sandwiched between his canines, he spits it out callously. "Do you have a name snowdrop?" He asks "My pack will want to meet an interesting one like you."   
  
Jack pauses in his administrations, the heat under his fur has begun to pool uncomfortably in the pit of his belly. Unconsciously, his claws sink into the earth, crinkling dried leaves. "Who says I don't have a pack of my own." He mutters between licks to his fur.   
  
"You don't have a pack scent, you hunt alone and..." The amber eyes dart along Jack's lithe frame. He doesn't have to say it. Jack already knows - a white wolf cannot hunt, a white wolf is a failure, a burden to any pack. Better to be rid of one when you get the chance. And now he's being asked to visit another pack, just because he's _interesting_ . The word leaves a sour aftertaste in his mouth, ringing in the confines of his mind. Jack sniffs disdainfully.   
  
"No thanks," He mutters. Rising, he begins to pad past the black wolf.   
  
"A shame," the black wolf begins. "The pack can't _possibly_ finish an antelope of this size without help. A _real pity_ it will go to waste."   
  
Despite his efforts, Jack's traitorous belly decides to renew its cry for food at that moment. The black wolf's snicker is enough to set Jack's ears ablaze. His ice-blue eyes turn to fix the black wolf in a glare.   
  
"Fine," he grumbles acidly. "And don't call me snowdrop... It's Jack."   
  
"Gabriel," the black wolf replies. "Come on, the pack will want this while it's warm... Snowdrop."   
  
Jack begins to protest but lets it go. Closing his teeth around the rump of the antelope's body - Gabriel's around the neck - they drag the body out of the undergrowth and onto the grassy plains.   
  
\---   
  
The feeling of a full belly was better than he remembered. Head resting on his paws, Jack surveyed the den. The wolves of the north were hardier than the south, thick muscles flexed under glossy fur of browns, reds, greys and even black. Numbering seven wolves in total, the pack was loosely arranged around the back of the den as they began their nightly grooming. Jack on the other paw, had opted to keep to himself by the den entrance. The northern pack had been kind enough to share the antelope with him and had even offered him a place for the night - for which he is grateful. But come morning, he would be off. After all, a white wolf was a burden to any pack. He would rather leave of his own accord than give the pack the satisfaction of ousting him.   
  
"Aren't you cold there?" A deep voice grumbles.   
  
Gabriel plops down next to Jack, black and white fur mingling in the darkness of the den.   
  
"You get used to it," Jack murmurs, eyes lidded in the growing darkness.   
  
A snort. "You're not supposed to get used to it," Gabriel mutters. Had he not been the second biggest wolf in the Northern Pack next to Reinhardt, Jack would've suspected the black wolf of whining. Instead, Gabriel half-turns, laying on his side to face Jack. His head dips as he begins to process of grooming Jack's mostly unkempt fur.   
  
"What are you doing?"   
  
"Grooming. Do you even take care of yourself?" Gabriel spits out a twig that he has found in the mass of tangled white fur.   
  
"It's just going to get mussed up tomorrow, leave it." He's sleepy, but he still manages to shift away from the persistent efforts of the black wolf. Unfortunately for him, he underestimates just how persistent Gabriel can be.   
  
A black paw is placed firmly across his back, holding the smaller white wolf in place. The grooming comes back in full force. Jack tries unsuccessfully to hide his ears under his paws from the continuous onslaught.   
  
"Stop doing that!" Gabriel hisses.   
  
"Doing what?"   
  
"Hiding your ears! I can't groom them this way."   
  
"Well I don't want you grooming them!"   
  
Jack was so glad he was leaving at first light.   
  
\---   
  
_Why? Why had he agreed to this?_   
  
Jack trotted after Gabriel in the early morning light. The big black wolf had his nose to the air, sniffing deeply. In the dim lighting, Gabriel's fur blended into the landscape - a shadow on a dark grassy plane. In contrast, Jack's snow-white pelt literally glowed in the darkness. He was self-conscious about it, pressing himself lower amongst the tall grass, trying to hide his pelt from the world.   
  
"Will you stop skulking?" Gabriel hisses.   
  
"I'm not skulking," Jack snarls back.   
  
He was in fact skulking. He had to, if he didn't want to ruin the task ahead. _Why oh why had he agreed to this?_ All he remembered was being prodded awake too-early in the morning and Gabriel demanding that they go out on a hunt.   
  
_Couldn't he have picked another wolf? Someone more qualified?_   
  
Eventually they arrive, the grassy plane is dotted with half-dozing animals. Most swaying on their feet as they slept. Gabriel has set their sights on a small wild boar careless enough to sleep outside the protection of the herd. 'Small' was only relative, the boar could feed the entire pack with enough left over. Jack feels a lump in his throat as he eyes the tusks protruding from the brutish mouth.   
  
"Stay here," Gabriel murmurs to Jack "When I give the signal, you're going to grab that pig for us."   
  
"It's a boar," Jack hisses. "And what signal?" But Gabriel is already slinking through the tall grass, his black pelt disappearing into the dim morning light. Jack huffs. He should never have agreed to this, in fact he should be gone by now. But he stays, crouched low in the tall grass. He stays as still as a stone, the grass sways gently in the wind, tickling his legs, and still he does not move.   
  
The sun is beginning to creep over the horizon, bands of golden light cutting across the grassy field. Jack presses himself further into the ground, he feels visible, _vulnerable_ , out here as the sun peeks over the land. Where was Gabriel?   
  
A burst of movement. He should have seen it coming.   
  
The surprised squawks of birds echo across the plane. They flutter into the air, shedding feathers like snow. The noise startles the other animals awake. The herd begins to move - messily - hooves thundering in the morning light. The wild boar with eyes wide sways on unsteady feet, its head swings back and forth, disoriented.   
  
And then there was Gabriel, a black streak against the golden field. Lunging and jabbing at the boar's back legs. The boar squees in frustration, kicking out at the threat. Gabriel jumps away neatly. He keeps pace with his prey, herding it away, all the while poking, taunting. That's when the boar has had enough. Brandishing ivory tusks, the boar dives for Gabriel.   
  
"Now Jack!" Gabriel howls.   
  
Jack bolts for the boar. The prey, spotting a new adversary, stomps in anger - did those tusks look that sharp before? He wasn't sure, wasn't exactly sure what happens next. The sun's rays catch his white pelt as he lunges for the boar, setting his body ablaze in blinding golden light. The boar winces at the assault to its eyes. The tusks are lowered.   
  
And Jack is crashing into the boar, his teeth finding the vulnerable place at the base of its throat. He sinks his canines in deep, feeling the boar struggle in his grip. He holds on tight, clawed paws digging into the earth for purchase.   
  
He doesn't know how long the boar struggles, doesn't know how long he hangs on with his teeth buried deep into his prey's throat. When the struggling finally ends, he lets go warily.   
  
"Good job Snowdrop!" Gabriel bounces past, examining the dead boar. "This will make a feast."   
  
Jack can only nod silently. His chest is heaving, blood coats the underside of his muzzle. It doesn't register, not at first. And then Gabriel is leaning in, licking the blood from his muzzle.   
  
"Gerroff!" Jack snarls.   
  
Gabriel chuckles, a rich, deep sound. "Come on Snowdrop, let's get this back to the den."   
  
"It's Jack..." Jack mutters more to himself than the black wolf. Still giddy, he helps Gabriel lift the body.   
  
He had made his first kill. A successful hunt.   
  
_A white wolf can hunt._   
  
\---   
  
His life takes on a pattern after that. Despite his constant insistence that he would leave 'tomorrow', Gabriel always finds one excuse or another to make the white wolf stay. Whether it be early morning hunts or late night treks across the planes - for who knows what purpose - to exhaust Jack before the next morning. As the full moon waxed and waned, one moon turned into two, then three.   
  
He knows exactly what Gabriel is doing and he resents him for it. But with resentment comes a small spark, one he dared not look at for fear that it might extinguish. That spark, was hope. Hope that he may finally be proving his old pack wrong, hope that he was not the useless white wolf they claimed he was. Hope that he would finally have a pack that accepted him, white fur and all. In the confines of the den when Gabriel would force the white wolf into a grooming session, Jack would secretly nurse the spark - feeling its warmth deep in his chest. He resented Gabriel, but at the same time he was grateful.   
  
With the black wolf's help, he had made successful hunts. Together, they thought of ways to use his white pelt to their advantage. Their favourite strategy - a distract-and-strike strategy - involved Jack chasing prey straight into Gabriel's waiting jaws. More often than nought the big black wolf took the credit for the kills, but slowly Jack was seeing a change in the northern pack.   
  
They invite Jack to patrols of the territory, they also told him to stop sleeping at the mouth of the den and to join them at the back. The former he is hesitant at first, the latter was one he immediately accepts (after days of Gabriel's constant grumbling of being cold). As the days moved from one to the next, he slowly learns the names of those he hopes to one day call his pack-mates.   
  
Reinhardt, the ageing giant - and alpha of the northern pack - was a great agouti wolf. With a grey and black back, white underbelly and legs, he was a hulking mass of muscle and fur. A deep scar is struck through his left eye, despite the handicap nothing seems to escape the alpha's piercing amber eyes. Ana, the alpha female was a blue roan with black speckles around her left eye that resembled a bird's wing. Her cub, Fareeha, no older than four moons old was a deep blue like her mother but carried her father's white underbelly and legs.   
  
Lena and Jesse were both tri-coloured. Lena, a deeper russet brown than her pack-mate with a dappling of blacks around her scruff. Jesse's colouration on the other paw, reminded Jack of the coyotes that once frequented his old territory with grey backs and brown-white underbellies and legs. And finally Angela, the female wolf was lithe, almost cat-like compared to her pack-mates. A lilac merle, she had a light brown back with white flecks on her muzzle, underbelly and legs.   
  
Gabriel, the only solid black stood out from his pack-mates. Not just because of his pelt but because of the way he acted. Reckless and at the same time showing a cunning that rivalled his alpha, he persuaded, cajoled, threatened to get his way. His ideas were usually unorthodox but no one could deny the results when the pack slept lazily with bellies full. Murmurs were exchanged between the younger pack-mates that Gabriel would succeed Reinhardt as the new alpha. The big black, took this all in stride - albeit with a very much puffed out chest.   
  
Jack could only roll his blue eyes.   
  
But as days shifted to nights, with the big black sleeping by his side and using his white fur as a pillow - Jack can only grin.   
  
_You deserve this Gabriel._ He would think.   
  
If only this would never end.   
  
\---   
  
_How? How did this happen?_   
  
The tall tailless ones - humans - first entered their territory during the late autumn moon. At first the wolves thought nothing of it. The humans kept to themselves and so did the wolves, not wanting trouble from either side. But then they began to move. Riding tall horses, the humans thundered across the plains, scaring away all the prey. Once or twice, they came close to finding the den.   
  
Gabriel was furious, he constantly argued with Reinhardt. The younger black wolf wanted to chase the humans from their territory, the great giant warned him of the dangers of such a plan - that humans were dangerous, that they should be avoided at all cost. When they were alone, Gabriel would rant about the humans to Jack, that they were more of a danger if they stayed in their territory. Jack listens silently, when Gabriel was finished - huffing from the rant - he would press his white muzzle into the black's shoulder in comfort. Gabriel - after a long while - would let out a deep breath before turning to nibble Jack's white ears playfully.   
  
_Everything will work out, in the end._   
  
He should have seen it coming. After all, a white wolf attracts misfortune as a flower attracts a bee. The angry howling coming from the den had sent him and the others out onto the grassy plain to find some peace. When it finally ends, Gabriel storms out from the den, black fur seething.   
  
"Come on Snowdrop, we're going hunting." He snarls. Without even waiting for a reply, he begins to pad away.   
  
Jack shrugs away the concerned glances of the other wolves before trotting after Gabriel. His white pelt, a stark contrast against the golden grass. They move in silence for the better part of the day, Gabriel is edgy, what prey they do find - he feels are unsatisfactory. Jack, used to the black wolf's antics by now, follows quietly.   
  
They finally set their sights on an antelope to Gabriel's liking when the humans make an appearance. On their tall horses, the three humans circle their chosen antelope. There's a flurry of movement from one of the humans as it draws a long stick from its back and points it to the panicking antelope.   
  
A sound like the clap of thunder booms through the plane, ringing in his skull. The antelope drops dead, blood flowing sluggishly from a hole in its ribs. Before he's even registered the stolen kill, Gabriel's furious howl echoes across the grassy plain. The big black lunges at the nearest human, jaws closing around the human's forepaws. He bites deep, and drags the snarling human from the horse's back.   
  
The human is struggling, hitting Gabriel's ears with quickly weakening strikes. The other two humans have recovered from the initial shock, they move, and those thunder sticks are in their fore-paws. Jack doesn't think, he moves.   
  
And plants himself between Gabriel and the thunder sticks.   
  
The alpha human suddenly lifts his stick, barking an order to his companion. Something in the human's eyes unnerve Jack, muddy brown eyes that glide over his white pelt in...hunger? He doesn't have the word, doesn't have the time to ponder it. The alpha's companion has drawn a smaller stick, black as onyx. He points it at Jack, the sound given reminds him of a hatchling’s chirp.   
  
The jab though, it reminds him of the bite of a snake, venomed fangs sinking deep. It pierces his white pelt on the shoulder. He howls, a deep wailing sound. And then the fur, all in his mind, he's struggling as his vision swims and his legs give out from under him. He's whining, kicking on the muddy ground that threaten to envelop him.   
  
And then Gabriel, he's by his side in an instant.   
  
"Jack!" the black wolf's howl is laced with panic, concern. "Jack! Hang on!"   
  
_How did this happen?_   
  
The white wolf blacks out. 


	2. Brave Enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel has come to care for Jack the white wolf. His Snowdrop.  
> But his alpha has other plans for him and Gabriel must choose between his pack or the one he has come to call his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I really wanted to get this down before I forgot it all. Written from the point of view of Gabriel this time.  
> Hope you like it and continues the justice of the previous chapter. x_x

He will never forget it for as long as he lives. The white puddle of fur, coated in mud, lying still amongst the golden swaying grass. The roaring thunder of horse hooves in his ears. The barking humans, circling around him and the prone white wolf - like vultures around a corpse.  
  
"Jack! Get up Jack!"  
  
The way Jack was splayed, out upon the grassy landscape shook Gabriel to his core. He felt like a cub again, howling in fright, howling for his mother. The constant whines that tore through his throat were unlike him. This coddling, this staying around for some other wolf was unlike him, he should be running as fast and as far as he can and not stop till he reaches the den.  
  
Despite the immediate danger, the racing thoughts, Gabriel remains by Jack's side - nipping the white wolf's haunches in a desperate attempt to move his...pack-mate. That's right, Jack was his pack-mate. He should never have dragged Jack out here, it surprised him how much he had come to care for the snow-white wolf. His Snowdrop. His Jack.  
  
The humans are shifting, they point at him, in their fore-paws were the thunder sticks. The black wolf stiffens -  he's seen what those sticks can do - the dead antelope lying nearby with wide unseeing eyes was a grim, if unnecessary reminder. He snarls, planting himself squarely on top of Jack's prone form. His hackles are raised, lips curled, barring blood soaked canines. If the humans thought he was afraid of those thunder sticks...well they wouldn't be completely wrong.  
  
Gabriel was terrified. The blood is rushing in his ears. His head, his eyes are snapping back and forth between each human - trying to keep them in his view. He doesn't stand a chance, he knows. And still he stays, a hulking black beast over a crumpled snowdrop.  
  
The thunder stick is raised, the click of it's wooden base echoes across the field.  
  
But before the thunder can strike, the storm arrives. Reinhardt, a mass of black and white muscle is wrestling the human to the ground. The ageing giant uses his superior size to hold the human down, his jaws are clamped around the human's forepaws and the thunder stick. The remaining two humans - one of them nursing an already bleeding paw - are surrounded by the rest of the pack. Little Fareeha - a small blue speck amongst the tall grass - is diving and kicking at the injured human, Ana and Angela snarling by her side. Then there was Jesse and Lena, juggling the only healthy human between them. Tri-colored pelts flashing across the golden field. Lena dives in, nipping at the human's heels. Distracted, the human doesn't see Jesse lunging for the the thunder stick in his forepaws. Gabriel would have found the resulting tug-of-war amusing if he weren't so acutely aware of the danger his pack-mates were in.  
  
Three thunder strikes.  
  
His head whips around. Reinhardt is bleeding from a nasty graze on his back leg, but otherwise the giant was unhurt. Enraged, Gabriel leaps forward. He barrels into the human's legs, knocking the tall tailless to the ground. Reinhardt is beside him, the agouti wolf has his jaws clamped around the thunder stick. With a great swing of his mighty head, the ageing wolf wrenches the thunder stick from the human's forepaws. Without a means to defend himself, the human barks an order to his companions.  
  
Distracted, Gabriel doesn't see the kick that connects with the right side of his face. The human kicks once more, driving the black wolf back. Scrabbling to his hind legs, the human is darting for his panicked horse. In a smooth motion, the human has swung himself onto the braying gelding's back. His companions, are both mounting another chestnut, the healthy one pulling his injured companion into place before roughly kicking his horse's sides.  
  
The echo of their fleeing hooves rumble across the plain like the vestiges of a storm.  
  
Jesse and Lena are howling after the fleeing humans. Their notes are shrill, bouncing across the grassy plain. Ana and Angela follow up,  with deeper, echoing howls. Fareeha gleefully joins in, her howl is short, more of a whine - still underdeveloped for her age. Reinhardt adds his voice to their chorus, a rich throaty howl betraying nothing of his injured state. Gabriel would've added his voice to their song, but right now, he had other things on his mind.  
  
Ignoring his aching right side, the big black wolf returns to Jack's side and noses the still-prone form. A whine moves from deep in his chest as he nuzzles the snow white fur. Now that things were quieter, he can see the small rise and fall of the white wolf's chest. Feel the small puffs of air escaping the black button nose and soft mouth. He whines again. Why doesn't Jack wake up?  
  
The pack comes to stand by his side. Gabriel turns slowly to face Reinhardt, amber eyes to amber eyes. The old alpha turns to Lena and Jesse.  
  
"Resume the hunt," He orders "be on alert for other humans. Tonight we feast."  
  
The two wolves nod and moving as one, disappear into the swaying grass. To the remainder of the pack, Reinhardt murmurs:  
  
"Let's get Jack back to the den."  
  
Moving forward, the agouti wolf closes strong jaws around Jack's scruff and lifts the other wolf as he would lift a cub. Half-dragging the snow white body, he begins the trek back to the den. Ana and Angela follow slowly, each flanking the alpha's sides. Little Fareeha, bounces after them, threading in and around her mother's blue legs. Gabriel brings up the rear, head and tail drooping.  
  
\---  
  
"Why doesn't he wake up?" Gabriel knows he sounds like a whining cub, but at that moment he couldn't care less.  
  
Angela rolls gentle sky-blue eyes at the black wolf before answering. "It's like he's taken poppy seeds," she explains patiently. "They'll make him sleep and sleep deeply, at least for awhile. Now stop badgering me, Jack will wake up once the effects wear off!" As if to dismiss him, the lilac merle turns her back on the black wolf and pads away to join a dozing Ana and still-hyperactive Fareeha.  
  
Gabriel is too restless to sit still, he paces back and forth around Jack's sleeping body. Ana raises a sleepy eye at the black wolf, her pale gold eyes betray her annoyance at being woken - but she says nothing. Gabriel slumps to the ground. After everything that's happened, he would rather not risk the wrath of the alpha female. Gently, he begins grooming the tangles from Jack's snowy fur. So soft and at the same time, they were cold at the tips. An image comes unbidden, _a dusting of frost coat the pines in the far north. They turned the dark trees a shimmery white. So beautiful and yet so fragile, they melted at the smallest touch._   
  
Jack yips in his sleep, rolling over. Gabriel stifles a chuckle.  
  
By now he knows the white-wolf as well as he knows his own name. Jack is a light sleeper, after moons of wandering alone; he was always on alert for threats. Furthermore, he sleeps as still as a stone and he definitely doesn't snore. But right now, sleeping under the effects of whatever the humans put in him, Jack's breath buzzed in his throat. His eyelids moved in what could only be a very vivid dream. Constant yips and grunts escape his snout as he slept. Never once stirring, the white wolf turns and buries his white muzzle into Gabriel's jet-black pelt.   
  
The big black wolf would've found the gesture endearing if not for the snickers at the back of the den.   
  
Angela has the decency to avoid Gabriel's amber glare, but not Ana. The blue roan meets his amber eyes, her maws stretch wide in a toothy grin. She snickers again.  
  
"Don't mind me," she drawls, golden eyes twinkling in the darkness of the den. "Just enjoying the show."  
  
Gabriel bares his fangs, his ears dropping down and back. A small growl rumbles deep in his chest. His hackles are rising. Angela shuffles uncomfortably at the rising tension, Fareeha is watching with barely contained excitement - small head whipping between her mother and Gabriel. Ana casually ghosts a pink tongue over thorn-sharp canines, never once breaking her stare.   
  
"That's enough."  
  
Reinhardt pads into the dim of the den, heavy steps echoing off the stone walls. The graze on his back leg still bleeds sluggishly. Approaching the younger black wolf, he nudges Gabriel in the side.  
  
"Come on," he murmurs. "There's something I want to show you."  
  
"Reinhar--" Angela quips.  
  
"It's only for a little while," the greying wolf assures "You can treat the wound once I'm back."  
  
Angela shuffles uncomfortably then huffing, she mutters "Don't stress the leg any more than you need to. We'll look after Jack while you're gone." She nods once.  
  
Hesitantly, Gabriel extracts himself from Jack's sleepy nuzzle. Rising to follow his pack leader, he looks back once at Jack's sleeping form and then Angela's confident eyes. Silently, he nods his thanks to the lilac. Before leaving the den he glances back once more, and takes in Ana's worried expression.  
  
And that - most of all - scares him.  
  
\---  
  
Gabriel follows Reinhardt across the grassy plains. His amber eyes constantly dart to the bloody graze on the old wolf's hind leg. The black and white giant keeps a brisk pace despite his injury, not once stopping for a rest. The shadows are beginning to gather, stars twinkling in the sky when Reinhardt slows his pace. They had crossed out of the boundaries of their territory a while ago. Gabriel, trusting his leader, did not utter a word in protest. Reinhardt stops over a steep rise, looking out across the grassy plain, the younger black wolf joins him.  
  
Before him, the tall shoulder length grass stretch for as far as the eye could see - rising and falling with the land. Towards the north, great mountains stretch, their snow-topped peaks cutting the sky. Down in the valley, a shadow loomed. Gabriel's eyes narrow into slits.  
  
A wooden den, the kind that humans used - a "house" they were called. Big, towering things, ominous in the light of the setting sun. Without a word, Reinhardt begins padding towards the house. Gabriel stiffens, Ana's worried expression was plastered in his mind. What did Reinhardt want to show him that had to be done alone? What was with the house - so quiet, so disturbing - out in the middle of nowhere? Trying to push away his growing sense of dread, Gabriel slowly follows the alpha.  
  
Reinhardt waits for Gabriel at the door of the house. Mostly made of wood, the house gave off an odour that reminded the black wolf of old moss and decay. He wrinkled his sensitive nose, there was another smell, under it all - but right now he can't pin point what exactly it was about this 'other' smell that repulsed him.  
  
"You're a good wolf, Gabriel..." Reinhardt begins. "If a bit reckless, but a good wolf. You're the best one to take over the pack, everyone else trusts you, so do I."  
  
Gabriel waits. The ageing giant had rarely spoken about the matter, it was something best left out when speaking before your alpha - a matter of respect. But to speak of it now... It was as if each word was ringing in the silence, clawing their way into his skull. The sense of dread the black wolf felt only increased. It felt like he had swallowed a stone. A large, heavy stone.  
  
"You wanted to chase the humans out, I understand your anger but it's not something we can do." Reinhardt sighs, a deep exhalation that moves his entire body. "The humans abandoned this house long ago, what lies in here...well...It's best you see for yourself."  
  
The old giant opens his mouth once as more as if to say more, then closes it again - thinking better of it. Turning, he nudges the door open and pads into the darkness. Gabriel hesitates at the door. A voice inside him is howling, begging him to run, to leave the house and its dark contents behind. He pushes it aside, and pads into the darkness.  
  
It takes awhile before his eyes adjust to the gloom, but when they do. Oh how he wished he had listened to that howling voice inside him. Rows upon rows of heads, animal heads line the wall. Each mounted on a pedestal of deep brown wood. Their big, beady eyes glow in the darkness, fixing him with a bright unmoving stare. Their fur is melting, covered with decay, old moss and dust. There was antelope, wildcat, bear, others he couldn't name and wolves. He's whining and then snarling, tail tucked between his legs at the horror before him.  
  
"Gabriel."  
  
The big black whirls at the sound of his name. If possible, the imaginary stone within him drops further, sinking in his gut, he feels sick - so sick - to his bones. Reinhardt sits beside the back wall, a sullen expression plastered to his muzzle. On the wall is stretched a wolf's pelt. A white wolf's pelt.  
  
The pelt is faded, no longer the snowy white it used to be. Covered in moss, dust, decay. The smell was strongest around it - one of wet and rotting fur. Gabriel blanches, fighting the urge to throw up right there and then. He forces his stomach to settle, his racing thoughts to calm - he succeeds, barely. Reinhardt watches him silently as he approaches the back wall. If he noticed Gabriel's shaking legs, the black wolf was glad the giant kept it to himself. He inspects the white pelt, amber eyes glossing over what must have once been a great wolf. The white pelt was large, pristine but for the moons of neglect. It's paws are pinned in place with wooden thorns, stretched taunt. To take a wolf, to pin it up in your den...Gabriel would never see humans in the same light ever again.  
  
"They must've wanted to do it to him."  
  
Gabriel twists, he eyes Reinhardt through amber slits. "What?"  
  
"They must've wanted to do it to him," the old wolf murmurs once more "To Jack."  
  
"They wouldn--"  
  
"Why not kill him then?"  
  
"Maybe he wasn't a threat."  
  
"Or maybe they wanted a clean pelt on their wall."  
  
"No, they--"  
  
"They had no intention of killing him," Reinhardt snarls "They put him to sleep so they could take him away! Don't you see Gabriel!? They wanted him for his damned white pelt!"  
  
Gabriel tries to argue, tries to come up with something, anything. He can't. For once in his life he was speechless. Everything was falling into place, how the humans had refused to attack Jack, had put him to sleep. The eyes of the alpha-human come back to haunt him, he thought they were hunger at first. Oh how wrong he had been. Desire, lust...Greed. Wolves had no need for such emotions, not really, he could see why now - how they had twisted the humans face, turning it into a grotesque mask.  
  
"What...What do we do now?" His voice shakes. Gabriel looks at Reinhardt, dreading. Dreading the answer he knows is coming. Not for his Snowdrop. Not for Jack. Please.  
  
"He's not safe here," Reinhardt declares. "Jack has to go."  
  
\---  
  
The walk back to the den takes longer. Reinhardt had begun limping half-way through. Gabriel lets the old wolf lean on his shoulder, the slow pace was welcome. He had much to think about. Chief on his mind was Jack. Jack the white wolf. It had been more than nine full moons since his snowdrop had joined the pack. Still a little wary, still a little cautious, Jack had taken a long time to become what he was. A pack-mate.  
  
He was no longer the scrawny runt that Gabriel had found wandering in the undergrowth. But a true wolf of the north, he had developed broad muscles and a glossier white coat - the results of spending time with the northern pack. He could hunt now, albeit with some help from Gabriel and the others. Jack could even hold his own in a tousle. He thinks about the last with pride; after a particular jabbing comment from Jesse, Jack had come to Gabriel for help. The big black wolf had taught the smaller white how to tumble the brash and cocky grey-and-brown wolf into a ditch - much to Lena and Angela's amusement.   
  
And now he must chase him away. His snowdrop. His mind drifts back to the white pelt. The horrible, decaying white pelt pinned to the inside of a human house. Gabriel sets his jaws, he had to do it. He was the one who dragged Jack into all this, he had to make it right. For his sake.  
  
He tells himself this, repeating it to himself like a mantra all the way back to the den. Jesse and Lena are back, a wild boar between them. Angela is pacing restlessly, no doubt out of her mind with worry. Ana sits regally, one paw around a protesting Fareeha as she grooms the cub's ears. And Jack. His snowdrop is awake, swaying on unsteady feet. The snowy white fur is mussed, his blue eyes are partially clouded - no doubt still shaking off the effects of what the humans put in him. But when he sees Gabriel padding back with a limping Reinhardt in tow his ears prick up, his blue eyes seem to snap into focus on the black wolf.  
  
Jack trots forward to greet Gabriel. A little unsteady perhaps, but nevertheless grinning from ear to ear. Reinhardt pauses to meet Gabriel's amber orbs before moving towards the den. Angela leaps forward to help the injured giant into shelter.  
  
 _So this was it then._  
  
"Gabriel!" Jack greets the black wolf with cheerful mirth. "You're back!"  
  
"I'm back..." Gabriel begins, where should he start? How should he start?  
  
Jack's ears have snapped forward, something in Gabriel's tone unsettled him.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asks cautiously.  
  
"Jack...We need to talk."  
  
"Ok," the white wolf murmurs "Ok."  
  
Jack was too obedient for his own good. Not even a flicker of his ears, not even a single speck of suspicion in those deep blue eyes. Gabriel can only stare, looking the white wolf over. The white pelt, glimmering under the light of the stars. For a moment, he sees it covered in moss, decaying, rotting...stretched taunt on a wall. Gabriel snaps from his reverie as if he had been kicked.  
  
"You need to leave," He blurts out.  
  
He doesn't miss it, the shrinking of those wondrous blue eyes. The small puff of rising hackles, the flattening of the ears. But when he speaks, the white wolf is calm, controlled. "You want me...to leave?"  
  
"Yes." Gabriel snarls. He's acutely aware of everyone else's eyes on him and Jack. Jesse and Lena are trading bewildered glances. Angela's jaw hangs open in undisguised shock. Fareeha is huddled under her mother, ears flattened. And Ana, the alpha female, refuses to look, refuses to so much as turn a muzzle in their direction.  
  
Jack is silent, jaw hanging slightly ajar - he tries to speak. Gabriel cuts him off.  
  
"You were knocked out in that last fight! Do you know how much danger you put us in!? I nearly died, Reinhardt is injured because of you!" He continues mercilessly. "The others risk their fur and necks for you! And you just slept through the entire thing! And to think I called you a pack-mate...I never should have let you and your damn white-pelt into our pack!"  
  
That's it. He's done it. He sees Jack deflate, the shoulders drooping, the tail hanging. He doesn't even meet Gabriel's amber eyes.  
  
"You never did call me your pack-mate, not once." He whispers. "I"m sorry to have been a burden."  
  
And the last. It hits Gabriel like a stone. Jack doesn't even fight for his place, doesn't even snarl. It's all quiet, all accepting. And then he's running, a white streak in the growing darkness. Pelting full force towards the distant mountains, his bobbing white tail streaking behind him. Just like that, Jack's gone.  
  
Gabriel could only watch in stunned silence.  
  
\---  
  
It has been three moons since Jack's departure. Three long moons. The white wolf had disappeared from their territory like fog under a morning sun. There was no trace, no reminder that the white wolf had ever been here. And that hurt Gabriel the most. Days passed and he would catch himself looking for the snowy pelt behind him. Sharing jokes and play-fights had never been more depressing, Lena didn't get his humour and Jesse couldn't keep up.  
  
More often than naught he would wander the endless grass fields alone. Making his way to the edge of the territory, he would spend the better part of the day patrolling the border - sniffing for a sign of the white wolf. Not once did he catch a whiff of the white wolf's scent. The days drag on and soon the tell-tale signs of winter ghost over the grasslands, turning the golden fields brown and then a pale white. A coating of frost, so beautiful. _So fragile_.  
  
Ana joins him on his wanderings one day, not-so-young Fareeha is left in Angela's care. The blue roan follows the black wolf silently, when they reach the edge of the territory, she lays down - paws crossed before her. For awhile she watches, eyes tracing Gabriel as he paces the border and raises his nose to the chilly wind.  
  
"He's not coming back," she rumbles.  
  
Gabriel doesn't answer, she doesn't expect him to.  
  
"You need to stop blaming yourself," she continues. "Let him go."  
  
"Everybody he knew let him go," Gabriel snaps. Then more quietly, "I don't want to."  
  
Ever since Jack's departure, the blue roan had kept her distance from Gabriel. But today she had insisted accompanying the black wolf, only to lecture him it seems - as if he hasn't done so himself already. But still he waits, expectant. Ana was never one to be rushed, but when she finally gets to it...  
  
"You do realise Reinhardt tricked you into saying those things."  
  
His head snaps up. Ana's golden eyes are calm, serene almost. She was the very picture of the female alpha, neatly groomed fur and an aura of undeniable power. Sometimes Gabriel suspected the pack's strength came naught from the great giant, but rather from his mate.  
  
"What do you mean?" He presses. Gabriel's had his suspicions, but to hear them straight from Ana's jaws...  
  
Ana takes her time, flicking blue ears back and forth. "Reinhardt and I have been around long enough to know what humans are like," Her deep voice rumbling in her chest. "He knew that the humans would stick around until they got what they wanted, so he had you chase Jack away. No more white wolf,  No more humans. That den of theirs in the valley was just a show to make it stick."  
  
"N-No, he had me chase Jack away because it wasn't safe."  
  
"Is that what you thought, or what he wanted you to think?"  
  
Gabriel didn't know. Frustrated, he snarls - black tail whipping back and forth. Now that he thinks about it, the humans have not been a problem ever since Jack's departure. There were signs of them, yes - but not as prominent as before. No more annoying horse riding, no more prey-stealing.  
  
"I've had my doubts ever since you two left," Ana continues. Her voice melded with the wind, a mesmerising tune that Gabriel clung to. "I thought Reinhardt would show you the truth so that you could protect him. I was wrong. He did it so that you would protect us."  
  
"Then what I said..."  
  
"Was what he wanted you to say. Every word, every snarl."  
  
Gabriel had never felt more the fool than he did now. He had been used by his own pack-leader, turned on his own pack-mate! Throwing his head back, he howls. It's angry at first, but as he clings to the notes - they change. They become mournful, anguished even. He howls, long and hard. Hoping, that wherever Jack was - he would hear Gabriel's howl and know he was sorry. Sorry for everything.  
  
Gabriel drifts his eyes over the white landscape. But there's no white wolf, no Jack to magically appear and tell him that he was forgiven. The landscape was quiet but for the gentle breeze of wind ghosting through the long, dead grass.  
  
"White wolves are unlucky things," Ana rumbles "They're always singled out, for being useless, for being a burden-" she snorts "- for being a threat. But without a pack, without a _friend_ , they cannot survive."  
  
Gabriel knows. He was the one that gave Jack his first kill after all.  
  
\---  
  
Winter settles in over the next moon, coating the land in a thick layer of snow. Prey - big and small - have all but fled the north. The northern pack is much the same. With prey running short, Reinhardt had declared that they move southward - to richer lands. Gabriel brings up the rear of the pack as they move single file through the pale landscape. He has not forgiven Reinhardt for what he had done, but at the same time; he understood why his leader did what he did. If he was in the old wolf's place, he suspected he would have done the same.   
  
Oust one wolf to save the pack. It was logical.  
  
It still hurt.  
  
The long trek south was mostly peaceful. The sky was intent on dusting everyone's coats with a layer of frost, leaving Lena sneezing and Jesse shivering. Fareeha, experiencing her first snowfall, raises a pink tongue to catch a snowflake - the loud yelp was amusing to say the least. Reaching the edge of the territory, Gabriel chances a look back in the direction of the den. The sky is a gloomy grey in contrast to the white fields.  
  
Something shifts in the distance. Gabriel squints against the falling snow but it's hard to tell. The snow is an eye-smarting white that threatened to blind him the more he looked. Dismissing it as part of his imagination, the black wolf trots to catch up with the rest of the pack. Southward they go, clearing huge stretches of fields. The pack is mostly silent but for the constant crunching of snow under-paw.  
  
He would probably chide himself for this later.  
  
Reinhardt's sudden stop startles the pack, the great agouti has his nose in the air. Gabriel follows suit, raising his muzzle to the cold wind - drawing the breeze over his scent glands. The smell sends the hackles rising on the back of his neck, his ears are flattened, claws piercing the icy earth. Humans.  
  
The jab on his back leg stops him before he can howl a warning.   
  
\---  
  
He's cold. Cracking open eyes heavy with sleep, Gabriel surveys his surroundings. A curious thing, he was enclosed on all sides by a silver mesh. He claws at it, bites at it. It feels like stone, but harder and the taste - its a sharp bitter tang. It rattles when he shakes it. Above him he hears a deep groan and then shuffling.  
  
"Gabriel?" Jesse's low rumble was sleep-addled.  
  
"I'm here," He replies.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Humans," Gabriel snarls. "Get up you lazy furball. I need your help."  
  
Another groan, the brown and grey wolf moves; shaking the silver meshes.  
  
"What d'you have in mind?" He mutters  
  
"Can you see the others?"  
  
Silence, there was more rattling as Jesse turns in the tight confines of his silver mesh.   
  
"I see more of these silver things by those horses over there," He mutters after awhile  "I think it might be Angela and Lena."  
  
Gabriel twists in his silver mesh - his 'cage' - to look over at the horses. Sure enough, there were a few more of the cages stacked up on top of some strange wooden contraption. It was large, able to sit three cages side-by-side. It stood on two large wooden circles supported by wooden beams. More wooden beams fixed the wooden contraption to the backs of the horses. Gabriel cranes his neck, he can barely make out Angela's lilac fur but Lena's bright russet fur sticks out like a sore claw.  
  
"Can you get out of your mesh?" Gabriel asks.  
  
"What d'you think I've been trying to do?"  
  
The cages rattle ominously, Gabriel wouldn't be surprised if Jesse topples them both over in his efforts to get free.  
  
"Got anymore bright ideas, Gabriel?"   
  
"I'll think of something," he mutters "Keep an eye out for the others."  
  
They lapse into silence. Gabriel takes stock of their surroundings. He and Jesse had been placed a ways off from Angela and Lena's horses. A wooden house is erected beside them, if he stretches against his cage he can just barely make out more cages on the other side of the house. He examines his own prison. A cold silver mesh, he knew that. He sniffs the material, testing it with both tooth and claw for weaknesses. Nothing. He snarls.  
  
Hooves thundering on the earth catch his attention. Four humans on horseback are riding in, they bark at one another in their harsh voices. Gabriel's ears flatten, a growl erupting from deep within his throat. One of the humans nurse a heavy coating over a distinctively injured fore paw. The humans are dismounting, throwing their head backs in what Gabriel suspects are laughs before disappearing into the house. The loud bangs and clatter are muffled with the closing of the door.  
  
A white patch detaches itself from where it's been lying in wait beside the horses. Quick as a flash it moves, before disappearing into another snow bank. Gabriel's ears prick up, amber eyes wide in disbelief.  
  
 _It can't be..._  
  
"Did'ya see that?" Jesse mutters. The tri-coloured wolf is raising his nose to the wind, he growls - the white patch was downwind of them, no chance to catch its scent.   
  
Gabriel cranes against his cage, pawing in the direction of the white patch. It was so hard to see past the eye-smarting snow but he's sure, sure of those blue-eyes and black button nose hanging in the middle of the snow bank. A whine erupts from deep within his chest, and then Jack is beside his cage.  
  
For a moment, he inspects the white wolf. He was larger, Gabriel was sure about that; puffed out against the cold - he reminded the black wolf of the sheep that once grazed on his territory. Despite the size, everything else was the same. The gentle blue eyes, thin fluffy ears and mussed fur. And then it hits him, all of it.  
  
"Jack--" Gabriel begins.  
  
"Not now!" the white wolf snaps. His Jack, his snowdrop is pressing himself against Gabriel's cage. His pearly incisors are closed around a thick silver bit. Jack tugs viciously, rattling the cage. Growling deep in his throat, the white wolf places clawed paws against the cage walls before pulling again. The silver pin drops from the cage door, it swings open with a high-pitched creak. The moment he is free, Gabriel leaps on top of the other wolf.  
  
Despite his size - which might as well have been all fur - Jack fits snuggly under Gabriel's body. The black wolf is dipping down, pressing wet licks to the white wolf's ears against the whining protests. Right on top of the snow, Gabriel can tell how Jack had gotten so close to the humans without being seen; his pelt was a matching set to the landscape around them - even now, Jack threatened to meld into his surroundings. Only those blue eyes and black button nose ground the pale wolf.  
  
"Um...Look, I hate to break the happy reunion, but..." Jesse drawls.  
  
Gabriel steps back, the blood is rushing under his fur. Looking over he sees that Jack is no different, the warmth coming off of him in waves has stepped up a notch. With a sideways glance, the white wolf is stretching up to tug the pin from Jesse's cage. It drops with an audible clink and Jesse is landing lightly on the icy earth beside the two other wolves. Before either pack wolf can utter a word, Jack cuts in.  
  
"I saw Reinhardt, Ana and Fareeha on the other side of the house. If you two can free them, I can get Lena and Angela."  
  
"Right," Jesse growls "So where do we meet after?"  
  
"There's a copse of trees just south of here," Jack replies, thinking fast. "We can meet there once everyone is free. Don't go west though -" he shivers "- there's a great moving ice lake there."  
  
"Fine with me." Jesse half-turns, muscles bunching in preparation to run. "Gabriel?"  
  
The black wolf stands undecided. He knows he has to go with McCree, between the two of them they can have the other three wolves free in a hearbeat. So why does he feel so uneasy about letting Jack out of his sight - even for a moment? The white wolf must have sensed his unease. He grins, revealing sharp canines.  
  
"I'll see you soon," Jack promises before bounding out of sight.   
  
"Come on!" Jesse growls. Without another word, he turns and leaps for the house. Gabriel follows with one more backwards glance.  
  
Quickly and quietly, they skirt the sides of the wooden house with the noisy human occupants. Sure enough, on the other side of the house stood three large cages containing the three wolves. All were awake and pacing restlessly within the tight quarters.  
  
Gabriel moves forward, a black shadow against the wooden walls of the house. He approaches the closest cage - Ana's cage - and closes his jaws around the silver bit just as he had seen Jack do. Beside him, McCree is doing the same for Reinhardt. With a few quick tugs, the metal pins drop from their place on the doors. The two wolves are out and Gabriel has his teeth in Fareeha's cage when the humans burst from the wooden house. There's a panicked - desperate even - tone in which they move, barking harsh orders and pointing. They run past Gabriel and the others, rushing to mount neighing horses. Something inside him drops. He wrenches the pin from Fareeha's cage just as the humans turn towards the west.  
  
The wolves leave behind the humans, heading south.  
  
The small copse of trees that Jack mentioned were within sight. Their leafless twigs stretching towards the stormy sky. Underneath the lifeless branches, Gabriel spots the lilac pelt of Angela and the brighter russet of Lena. Both were unharmed, if a bit disheveled. Jack was not with them.  
  
"Where's Jack?" He snarls once he's within earshot.  
  
"He--" Lena begins  
  
"What has Jack got to do with this?" Reinhardt cuts in, his one good eye flashing.  
  
"It doesn't matter!" Gabriel nearly howls from rage "Where is he?"  
  
"The humans saw him through the house, we don't know how." Angela barks. "He told us to run here while he led them away."  
  
"Which way?"  
  
"West."  
  
Reinhardt cuts Gabriel's path off just as the black wolves moves to leave. The black wolf snarls, lips curled and hackles rising.  
  
"Out of my way!"  
  
"Gabriel, think about this!" The agouti wolf hisses. "We're all here, we have to leave. Now!"  
  
"And what about Jack?"  
  
Reinhardt's silence was not at all comforting.  
  
"Jack was the one that saved us! He came back for us!" Gabriel snarls, he doesn't care if the old giant was his alpha or not. He had already lost Jack once, he wasn't going to let it happen. Not again. "I'm going back for him!"  
  
Reinhardt's amber eyes flash angrily, the great maws open. But the voice that echoes across the tense silence is not his.  
  
"Go." Ana rumbles.  
  
Reinhardt turns to stare disbelievingly at his mate. The blue roan is unfazed. She continues, voice ringing. "We'll continue south. If you don't find us, we'll return to the old den the following Spring. We'll see you then."  
  
Ana was never one to be rushed, but when she finally gets to it - she speaks as she kills; swift, deadly, no room for hesitation and foolery. Gabriel nods his thanks to the blue female before dodging around Reinhardt and bounding west.  
  
 _What had Jack said?_  
  
Something about a great moving ice lake. The black wolf could only pray that he would make it in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is named after Brave Enough by Lindsey Stirling - go check it out \o/


	3. Where do we go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's return to save the northern pack has put him in a difficult situation.  
> When push comes to shove will he choose to stick with what he knows and loves or a new beginning?

_ I'll see you soon _ \- empty words. Empty promises.   
  
Jack dodges around a snowy bank just as the first strike of thunder hits not far from where his hind-legs were moments before. The clatter of the horse hooves on the ground threw up sparks, they were booming in his ears - he forced himself to run faster. His muscles were burning from the strain but he doesn't stop. The great moving ice lake was within sight.   
  
_ Great moving ice lake _ , he snorts. A description he used at the spur of the moment, the real thing put his words to shame. The  _ glacier _ stretched before him to the distant mountains, they filled the air with constant cracks, gurgles and snaps. The wind blowing off it's icy slopes pierced through his thick coat, sending shivers up his spine. Cresting a rise, he leaps over the first crevasse - and onto the ice mountains.   
  
His paws sink deep into the layers of snow, he sputters. Kicking out, he bounces over the snow - moving steadily over the glacier. Behind him the humans bark to one another, two of them split off to skirt the glacier's base. The remaining two kick their horses over the crevasse in hot pursuit. Jack dives over the next crevasse, he lands on the opposing bank up to his shoulders in the white powder. His legs work frantically, pushing him up and out.    
  
The second thunder strike misses his flank by a hair.   
  
He snarls. The blood is roaring in his ears, the hackles are bristling - tingling - on the back of his neck. There's something exhilarating,  _ breath-taking _ about fleeing for his life amongst snowy peaks. One that sends lightning coursing through his body.   
  
The first time he fled from anything - his own birth pack - had been in a storm.   
  
Thunder roaring overhead,  _ their _ howls loud in his years, he had scrabbled over the rock wall that separated the southern pack from the northern pastures - tearing a claw in the process. The rain soaking him to his skin, plastering his fur to his sides. He could feel his litter-mates as if they were here with him now, breath hot on his paws, teeth nipping at his heels as he's leaping over the next rise.    
  
The second time he fled, was from Gabriel.   
  
In the dark of the night, with nothing but the stars to accompany him over the golden fields. He remembers running long and hard, not daring to look back - not wanting to see those bright amber eyes trained on his fleeing form. He still wonders if they would be filled with that reckless pride he's come to know so well, or hurt - hurt at losing him. He runs as he did back then, as if he could outrun all the pain of being helpless, unwanted, a white wolf...the pain of being himself. Hope dashed against a jagged rock, the feel of coldness seeping in through the pads of his paws.   
  
And now...   
  
He falls short on the next leap. A startled yelp escapes him as he crashes against the ice wall. His claws sink deep into the glossy surface, digging valleys in the cold blue stone. He's pulled himself onto solid ice when the third thunder strike hits.   
  
Jack howls in pain as the silver pellet tears through his hind leg. The pain bursts inside him like a thousand suns, all clamouring to burn him from the inside out. He howls again, the rest of his legs are shaking. He's reduced to hobbling, then dragging himself over the icy surface.   
  
It's a dead-end. He knows it is. White wolves never have any luck, he's known it all along - and yet it hurts. It hurts to know this is as far as he would ever go. Jack drags himself to the glacier's edge, it's sheer white cliff - a long drop over rich blue waters. The sun is setting over the lake, turning the sky a myriad of rich purples and pinks amongst scarlet reds.  _ It's not so bad, not really - not when it's this beautiful. _   
  
Jack slumps down on the cold ice, feeling it bite through his burning muscles. His head swivels to watch the humans as they thread their way through the glacier to him. The horses are skittish, disliking the feel of ice under their hooves. Their humans pull hard on the strings tied to their mouths, forcing them along the bloody trail Jack has left in his wake. The four humans gather together just a stone's throw away, eyeing the white wolf.   
  
Jack snarls, baring sharp canines.  _ Get it over with. _   
  
Around him, the glacier snaps and gurgles - filling the air with its eerie moans. Somewhere along the glacier's edge, a swathe of ice mountains collapse into the lake. Sending waves crashing into the air. His blood is seeping into the cracks under the ice, he notices with fascination - notices everything just as the human raises a thunder stick to his head.    
  
The howl. It pierces through his pain-addled mind. In an instant, Jack is straining against a protesting body - looking for the source. There. The black wolf was streaking across the ice, a black spot on an endless white field. Gabriel traverses the glacier with ease, muscles flexing under his thick glossy fur.  His amber eyes are flashing, he howls once more.   
  
He has his sights set on Jack. On his snowdrop.    
  
The rush of emotions flooded through his veins, burning through the pain. Happiness, longing, excitement, hope...and panic. Gabriel was the strongest wolf he had ever known, rivalling even Reinhardt. But even he could not take on four humans with their thunder sticks and their horses. That didn't mean he wasn't going to try - and die trying. Jack had known Gabriel for nine moons - nine  _ long _ moons - he knew the black wolf well. Too well. He could almost hear the thoughts, feel the power, the strength pulsing off the big black as he bounded over the remaining distance. It frightened Jack, a cold that spread in his bones and sank in his gut. Despite everything, he couldn't let Gabriel do this.   
  
The struggle to his paws was excruciating, but Jack managed. The pushing of weight onto his injured hind paw though - he couldn't stop the pained howl that forced its way through his maws.  He's raising his fore paws to the sky, claws glinting in the setting sun and striking down on the ice. Again and again he hammers the ice, snarling and howling. The human's horses are braying, struggling against the restraints around their mouths. A chestnut gelding rears, before bringing it's hooves crashing down onto the ice - the cracks that slithered their way across the pale floor was better than anything he could have hoped for. Jack leaps, falling short before another horse. The hoofed beast kicks out at the white wolf, narrowly missing his ears. Another crack snakes its way across the ground. The humans are struggling to keep their mounts calm between Jack and the gradually growing groan of ice underfoot. Their panic, the tightening of their grip around the horses' mouths, forces their mounts into a frenzy. Kicking, twisting and stamping on the icy floor.   
  
The look of realisation on Gabriel's face quickly turns to anguish.   
  
Jack stands on three good legs, on the edge of a cliff, watching Gabriel with deep blue eyes.  _ This is as far as I go _ . The amber eyes are panicked -  _ pleading _ \- for Jack to run, to leap - to  _ fly _ to the black wolf. But he stands his ground, they both do. The thin, hair-line cracks turn to ruptures, drawing deep valleys between Jack and Gabriel. The roaring groan, the terrified screams of humans and their horses...   
  
The ice  _ shatters _ beneath Jack.   
  
Gabriel watches, pain flowering deep within his chest, bursting to fill his black pelt. He stays rooted, watching as the icy floor drops his Snowdrop amidst a diamond shower. He catches the blue eyes before they disappear out of sight and into the blue depths below. The humans and their horses following closely.   
  
_ I'll see you soon _ .   
  
\---   
  
Jack dreams. He dreams that he wanders the endless golden plains once more. He doesn't know how long, how far he's been wandering. The swaying grass, a mesmerising sight that lulled him. He's looking for someone, he knows who he hopes to see and yet...a part of his mind tells him it does not matter if he never sees  _ him _ again.   
  
_ A wonderful contradiction _ . He grumbles to himself. He can't help but feeling slightly peeved at the last thought. Why should it  _ not  _ matter if he doesn't see  _ him _ ?   
  
At least here he's warm, he's comfortable. He settles down, making a nest for himself amongst the bending grass. He lays down and places his head on his paws. He wills his eyes to close. And he wills himself to sleep.    
  
\---   
  
Jack cracks tired eyes open. He blinks slowly, trying to disperse the cloud that sticks to the corners of his vision. He's no longer in the golden field but rather, in a large den of some kind; shaped like a dome and made of something he could not recognise. Not earth, not stone, not even wood - the den swayed gently, buffeted by outside winds. It was a dull white and smelt curiously of sheep's wool. A similar material covers the floor and more had been piled across his shoulders, this time a flaring red with patterns of greens and yellow dappling its surface. More were pushed under his paws and around his body in a makeshift nest.   
  
Intrigued, Jack sniffs the material; it smelt of sun drying and rich earth. Still sore and stiff, he tries to stand - and howls when the pain in his back leg shoots up his spine, exploding in his head. He drops into his nest once more, whines tearing themselves from his chest. A large object in the far corner of the dome rises, then detaches itself from the shadows, approaching Jack. It stretched golden-brown forepaws to the wolf. A tall-tailless, a human.   
  
He snarls. Lips curled and teeth bared. The hackles are standing tall around his neck as he tries to scooch his way away from the human. The human stops, brown-black eyes scrutinise Jack - he thinks he sees concern, even pity in those dark depths, but then the human is turning.   
  
The human kneels on it's hind legs beside a black globe made of stone, lifting it's top, it scoops steaming white liquid from the stone's depths onto a silver dish. Gently, the human pushes the silver dish with the liquid to Jack before retreating to a safe distance.   
  
Jack eyed the human suspiciously from his makeshift nest. The human sat facing the white wolf, dark eyes half-lidded in the gloom of the den. It made no more moves towards Jack and avoided the wolf's blue eyes in what the wolf took was a show of respect.  _ Curious _ , when did humans show respect to wolves? The white liquid lay steaming between them. Leaning forward cautiously (with one eye to the human), he sniffed at the white liquid. A musty, thick smell fills his nose, reminding him of the goats that visited the northern plains during the summer moons. He blinks.  _ Was this...? _   
  
Craning his neck forward, Jack dips his nuzzle into the liquid and laps up a few drops.  _ Goat's milk _ . He realises, startled. All of a sudden, his hunger seemed to increase ten-fold. Ignoring his clamouring thoughts, Jack eagerly laps up more of the sweet liquid, white drops dripping from the fur under his muzzle. Too quickly, the dish was emptied. Jack retreats, shuffling slowly to avoid bumping his injured leg, his pink tongue licked up the stray drops around his maw. The human approaches slowly, picking up the silver dish in its forepaws; it -  _ he _ , Jack realises - scoops more goat's milk into the dish before returning to his side of the den.   
  
They repeat this twice more - the human pushing a laden dish of goat's milk to Jack before shuffling back, Jack leaning forward to empty the dish and then retreating, the human moving forward once more to take the dish. Finally, his belly was filled with the warm offering. Grumbling deep in his throat, the white wolf laid his head on his paws - blue eyes watching the human who sat before him. The human cocks his head to one side, clearly amused. Then he turned his back on the white wolf and moved to the far corner of the den where Jack had first seen him rise. The human lies down on it's side before drawing the black-and-gold-sheep-smelling-material over its shoulders. It wasn't long until Jack noted the steady rise and fall that meant the human was asleep.   
  
_ Curious _ . He thought again. With his belly filled with warm goat's milk, his eyes begin to droop. Jack growled, forcing his eyes open. The thick musty and comforting scents of the den came to his nose - a mix of sun dried flowers, earth and a tinge of ice; most likely from the storm outside. The human had made no move to hurt him, going so far as to even feed him. Despite the act of kindness, Jack refused to let his guard down. It was a lot easier said than done. The warmth had seeped into his bones, dulling his senses and causing his mind to drift. He caught himself dozing once, twice...   
  
\---   
  
"How  _ long _ is he going to sleep for?" A shrill voice grumbles, clearly feminine.   
  
"He was injured badly when they brought him in," a voice replies, male, deeper in tone - comforting to listen to.   
  
"But it's been  _ three _ days!"   
  
"You take a shot to your leg  _ and _ get dunked into a cold lake and see if  _ you _ don't sleep for three days!"   
  
"I heard him last night y'know, he was howling and Gold-tailless fed him."   
  
"I didn't hear anything." A pause. " _ Hana _ ..."   
  
"What?" The shrill voice replies. "I'm just checki--"   
  
The tail that wallops across his snout snaps him awake, sneezing from the assault. Jack rears back, blinded by the water in his eyes and still shaking off the last vestiges of sleep.   
  
" _ See _ ?" The shrill voice - Hana - gleefully howled.    
  
Jack's eyes snapped into focus, teeth barred at the two wolves before him. Perhaps 'wolves' was an overstatement, the youngest one looked to be four moons old while her companion seemed no more than a moon older - they were still cubs. Hana's neatly groomed white fur glowed in the dim of the den, red markings dappled the sides of her small muzzle. She had glowing brown eyes that sparkled. Her friend was a stormy grey with a black muzzle, he had pale green eyes tinged with gold.   
  
"I am  _ so _ sorry--" the grey begins.   
  
" _ I'm _ not." Hana quips.   
  
"Hana!"   
  
"Lucio?"   
  
" _ Hana _ ..."   
  
"And you are...?" Plainly ignoring the glare that Lucio was throwing to the back of her white head.   
  
It takes Jack a moment to realise the question was directed at him. The curious brown eyes of the white cub bore into him, it took all his effort just to tear his own blue orbs away. Grunting, he rolls onto his side with his injured leg splayed out.   
  
"Jack," he grunts. He was still sore, the pain in his leg throbbed but did not overwhelm him as it had when he had last woken. Taking this as a good sign, Jack twists his head to begin grooming his tangled fur. The silence was overbearing, chancing a glance at the two cubs he finds that Hana had opted to sit not two paces from Jack's forepaws - brown eyes sparkling and grinning from ear to ear. Her companion, Lucio remained a respectful distance from the blue-eyed wolf; shuffling his paws uncomfortably. Jack's ears flattened and he glared at the little white cub.   
  
"Don't you two have better things to do?" He growls.   
  
"Nope!" Hana quips immediately.   
  
Jack grumbles under his breath, stars above save him from the mischiefs of cubs! Even Fareeha had been quieter and more reserved in her conduct - attributes courtesy of her strict mother, Ana. Thinking about the northern pack, his mind drifts immediately to Gabriel.  _ Oh _ . Gabriel would be so, so mad with Jack. He had forced the black wolf to watch as he hurtled to his doom. Unlucky for him, he survived. For a moment he imagines seeing Gabriel again, muscles bunching beneath that glossy black pelt, the piercing amber eyes and the thinly angled ears. The fight they would have had would be nothing short of painful - at least for Jack. Nevertheless the thought brings him some joy.   
  
Groaning, he pushed himself onto his paws; stifling the howl of pain when he jostles his injured leg. Half-limping, half-hopping, he eases his way around Hana and Lucio and makes for the mouth of the den. The white cub would not be deterred, leaping to her paws, she bounds over to Jack; nearly tripping the older white wolf. Lucio follows at a more sensible pace, bringing up the rear.   
  
They burst into the blinding light of the afternoon sun, Jack squints against the bright glare and the eye-smarting reflection on a fresh layer of snow. As his eyes adjust, a mixed chorus of sounds and smells assailed his senses. Humans mile around white domed dens, running chores and chattering to one another in their harsh voices. He can't help but feel they were different from the humans he saw last - the humans who had cornered him on a glacier over a rich blue lake. These humans felt - looked - softer, with tanned golden skin hidden under colourful over-pelts ( _ clothing _ as Hana would later tell him, rather condescendingly - made from sheep's wool). The she-tailesses wore two-piece garments, a white under-dress covered with long black vests bordered with red embroidery - flapping yellow scarves circle their midriff as a sash . Sparking gold hung in chains around their necks and ears, on their head sat blocky headdresses of black and reds - covering what fur they did have on their heads. Their counterparts wore ankle-length robes of earthy browns and whites, with black vests adorned with less embroidery of greens and gold. A sash of matching colour circle their waists, domed hats sat upon their heads.    
  
The humans had set their dens beside a sparkling blue lake, tamed goats and sheep saunter around watched by their human guardians. Deep pits dotted around the dens held low-lying fires. As Jack stepped out of the den, one of the humans rose from his place around the fire pit to approach the three wolves. Jack blinked, surely this was the same human that had offered him goat's milk in the middle of the night. Under the sun, he could make out a sparkling gold ring that hung off one of the human's curved ears. Cautiously, the human knelt before the white wolf and offered his empty fore-paws towards the wolf.   
  
"That's their way of saying peace," Lucio explains, voice soft.   
  
Jack snorts. Ears flattened to his head and hackles threatening to rise, he limped away from the human. He expected the human to take offence, to come after him and strike him. But as he moved away all he heard was the low rumble of a chuckle from behind. Looking back, he saw the human lean forward to scratch Hana's ears and pat Lucio briefly on his back before moving away - the human was wearing a bright smile. Jack huffs once more, the cubs were most likely too young to know what humans were capable of. He on the paw, had seen what they could do.   
  
The white wolf contemplates leaving the humans and their domed dens behind. His mind drifts to the northern pack, and to Gabriel. Would they let him stay with them now that the (immediate) human threat was gone? But surely they won't want a white wolf in their pack, right? Even Gabriel had hinted at the pack's dislike of his pelt. The memory of their last fight still haunts his dreams, one-sided as it had been, he never wanted to hear those words from the black wolf ever again.   
  
_ I never should have let you and your damn white-pelt into our pack! _   
  
He shudders. Jack had never thought the black wolf capable of such words before - the pain and despair had buried itself quickly and deeply into the confines of his mind like a weed taking root. But after rescuing the him from the humans, the black wolf's actions had gone as far as to healing those wounds. He thought back to how Gabriel had leapt on him, wet licks bombarding his ears and low rumbles echoing through that powerful body. And the attempted rescue, the black wolf leaping across the glacier, trying to reach a doomed Jack.   
  
He sighs, long and hard and slumps down by the lake side. His injured leg throbbed and his body ached from the effort of moving. Even if the northern pack did welcome him back, there was no way he would be able to make the journey as injured as he was. Already, his head felt fuzzy and threatened to drop him into another long slumber. Only the weight that crashed on his back kept him awake.   
  
Twisting his head, he glared at Hana who was now balancing precariously on his back - small paws kneading his white fur. She was truly a tiny thing, white fur sticking out at odd angles and dancing brown eyes. Her pink tongue stuck out at the corner of her jaw in concentration. Grumbling, Jack nosed the white cub off his back.   
  
"Hey!"   
  
"Don't use other wolves as a perching stone," he growled   
  
"I wasn't!" she snarled back.   
  
A low rumble thrummed in his chest. If she had a few more moons under her, Hana would be one threatening wolf. But right now, the little snarling furball was at best, cute. Glancing around, he sees Lucio padding over - dragging a rabbit in between his teeth. Stopping beside the white wolf, the grey cub drops his offering.   
  
"Gold-tailless says to give you this," he explains. "Something about keeping you strong."   
  
Jack cocks his head to the side. "You can understand them?" He asks   
  
"Only a little," Lucio admits. "Mostly they speak in those really harsh barks, but to me'n Hana they use their fore-paws and other stuff to show us what they want."   
  
Jack eyed the grey cub, impressed. His eyes drift to the rabbit by his side, a voice inside argues against taking it. But another, more reasonable part of of him argues otherwise; he had no strength and his body hurt - surely it was alright to accept the human's kindness this once. Reluctantly, Jack drags the dead rabbit over his paws and begins nibbling on the flesh. Lucio was happy enough to sit and watch, Hana on the other paw scrabbled back to her place on Jack's back.   
  
"Can't you hunt for your own rabbit?" She asked.   
  
"If I wasn't injured, I would." He retorted, swallowing another mouthful of rabbit.   
  
"Can you teach me?"   
  
"Only if you get off my back."   
  
Hana leaps off. "There, I'm off"   
  
"I'm eating."   
  
The little cub grumbles. He feels the tiny claws hook into his back once more as she climbs back on. This time she callously dumps her muzzle between his ears, the rest of her body splayed out on his scruff.   
  
"But you'll teach me, right? And Lu too?"   
  
"Maybe."   
  
" _ Pleeeeease _ ?"   
  
"I'm still injured." He reminded her. Despite his growing annoyance at the cub, he can't help but feel a little cheered at her determination. Of course, actually teaching the hyperactive furball would be another matter...   
  
"Teach us once you're better?"   
  
"Fine." He grumbled, anything for a bit of peace.   
  
"Promise?"   
  
An image comes unbidden: A black wolf standing on the precipice of a glacier. Glossy black pelt pulled by the harsh winds and eyes filled with a deep sadness that shook him to his bones.  _ Empty words _ .   
  
" _ I promise _ ." He whispered.   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Titled after 'Where do we go' - Lindsey Stirling
> 
> So aaay I managed to get through chapter 3. Really had difficulty planning this one out. Getting humans to interact with wolves without breaking the general flow of the story and immersion was harder than I thought. Will try to have more action in the upcoming chapters. Thank you for staying with me this far \o/


	4. Don't let this feeling fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's new life has begun but even now the white wolf is plagued with doubts.  
> Lucio and Hana keep the white wolf busy and on his toes but if Jack knows anything about the world...
> 
> It's that it hates white wolves...and double that when two are together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between chapters. I'm having to move house and it's been a bit busy.  
> So anyway long chapter to make up for it. :D
> 
> Hope it does the rest of the story justice!

"Lower Lucio!" Jack growled "Your prey will see you from a mile away if you keep peeking like that!"   
  
"Got it." Lucio dropped lower to the ground, a grey and black blotch hunched above the white snow. Ears angled forward and eyes narrowed in concentration.   
  
Jack turned. Swiftly he raised a paw - just in time - to deflect Hana's pounce, bowling over the white cub. Hana rolled across the earth, throwing up snow in her wake before leaping back to her paws. The white powder clung to her back and sat on her nose. She sneezed and shook vigorously, sending snow and dirt flying. She was puffed up to twice her size against the cold, her fur sticking out in clumps much like the spines of a hedgehog.    
  
"You make too much noise Hana," Jack snapped. "Be more patient and mind your tail!"   
  
Without another word, Hana dropped back into a crouch. Jack watched, chest swelling with pride. In the days after he had woken in the human's camp, the cub had proven herself to be the most annoying creature Jack had ever dealt with; constantly running between his paws, tripping him and badgering him with questions. She was a furball full to the brim with energy. It seemed all that was needed was a place for that energy to go. When Jack had finally given in and started teaching the cubs - despite his still-present injury - Hana had quickly turned from playful cub to silent and hard working student. She had the natural grace of a hunter, he could see that, she was also a quick learner - mostly. He moved forward - minding his injured hind leg - and smacked a fore paw over the cub's waving tail.   
  
"I  _ said _ , mind your tail."   
  
"Sorry," she mumbled.   
  
Turning once more, he watched as Lucio crept across the snowy floor. Grey paws skimming the ground, the cub approached his prey: a leaf. In contrast to his companion, Lucio was a polite and happy-go-lucky wolf. Observant and patient, he often helped to explain human objects and even translate human actions. With the grey cub's help, Jack had learnt more about the humans than he had thought possible. And now, Lucio brought these qualities into play. He had taken Jack's advice to heart, keeping his body flattened against the earth. Ears flicking, the little cub stopped a ways from his chosen prey, listening intently. Finding the setting satisfactory, he prepared himself, muscles bunching - and leapt. Before his paws could close around his prey, the wind snagged the leaf in its grasp - flipping the leaf out from under the cub and into the air. Startled, the grey cub went sprawling, snarling all the way.   
  
"Pig dirt!"   
  
"Language," Jack growled.   
  
Lucio's ears flattened, he looked truly shamefaced. "Sorry," he mumbled.   
  
"I don't see why he needs to apologise," Hana quipped. "You use it all the time."   
  
Jack fixed Hana with his best blue glare. He had long gone past the point of arguing with the white cub, she always seemed to have a witty comeback waiting and right now he would rather not get on the wrong side of her tongue. Instead he padded up to the grey cub, pushing a loose pebble in between his forepaws.   
  
"Use this but mind your paws," He cautioned. "This time, practise sensing the wind direction before you leap. Sometimes the wind will give us away, you don't want that in a real hunt."   
  
"Has that ever happened to you?" Lucio asked.   
  
Jack laughed, a light-hearted bark that shook his body. "Usually, I hunt  _ from _ upwind."   
  
"Won't that get you spotted?" Hana asked, shocked. She was crouched mid-creep, she raised herself now, brown eyes wide.   
  
"Yes, it would." Jack explained "But I do it on purpose. You see, my pelt isn't actually good at blending, not with the grass or the stones - which is where you usually find prey. So when I hunt, I do it with--"   
  
_ His _ named choked deep in his throat. The beautiful black wolf with amber eyes that glowed in the darkness. He feels his fur brushing up against his own, the musty breath and the wet licks against his ears.    
  
"With...?"   
  
Jack blinked. Hana and Lucio were waiting expectantly, brown and jade eyes fixed on him.   
  
"With pack-mates," He continued hastily. "If it's hard for you to ambush your prey, work in pairs or more, it'll help you guarantee a kill."   
  
If the cubs found his hesitation odd, they kept it to themselves. Jack was thankful for it. He ran them through a few more drills of creeping and pouncing before calling an end to the day's lesson. The cubs bounded away, heading for the lakeside to cool their paws. Jack was happy to watch them go, he himself padded away to one of the white domed dens -  _ tents _ , he reminded himself. There he found Gold-tailless sitting cross-legged before the entrance.   
  
The human was whittling a thin piece of wood between his forepaws. Putting the knife down, Gold-tailless carefully brought the carved wood to his lips and blew an experimental note. The note was deep and hollow, much like an owl's hoot. Smiling, Gold-tailless picked up his knife once more and continued carving his flute. Jack settled by his side, keeping a respectful distance between himself and the man. It had been roughly two moons since his dunking in the ice lake and rescue by the softer humans. They were kinder, they shared their food with him and Gold-tailless even shared his home with the white wolf.    
  
In the beginning, the white wolf had been openly hostile, sometimes even vicious. But Gold-tailless would wait, even speak softly to the wolf, always in his own human tongue - always gentle and respectful. Although still wary, Jack had learnt - however slowly - from Lucio how to better read the humans and now he knew they meant no harm. Every morning, the human would greet Jack the same way - kneeling with arms outstretched before the white wolf, a sign of peace between them. Recently, he had begun to acknowledge the gesture with a small bow of his head, and was rewarded with the biggest smile he had ever seen plastered to the human's face. Gold-tailless never cared that he was a white wolf, Jack even suspected that all the human wanted was to be his friend.   
  
_ Friend... _   
  
His thoughts drifted once more...to Gabriel. He wondered what the black wolf was doing, would he be back with the northern pack? He imagined Gabriel leading the hunt, Lena and Jesse flanking him on either side as they closed in on an unsuspecting boar. Their pelts would blend into the landscape, they would be on the boar before it even realised what had happened. The pack would feast that night, and he would not be with them.   
  
" _ A good imagination is not always a good thing _ ."   
  
Jack swivelled his head to look at the human. Gold-tailless smiled, before raising the flute to his lips once more. He narrowed his blue eyes at the human. Sometimes he wondered if he could actually understand humans or if he just imagined them saying what he wanted to hear most. Try as he might though, he could not banish the black wolf from his thoughts. He sighed, long and deep. Beside him, Gold-tailless blew gently into the carved wood. The flute's tune wafted onto the evening breeze, twining around the camp and across the herds of sheep that belonged to the soft humans. The she-taillesses were gathering baskets of vegetables and meat before the fire pits, soon the smell of spices, herbs and cooked foods reached his nose.   
  
The heavens were a deep blue and purple with pink clouds dotting the horizon. The moon hung in its place in the sky even as the stars began to make themselves known. Jack's eyes glided over the homes the humans had made for themselves and settled on the two cubs still splashing in the shallows of the lake. Hana was trying to wrestle the slightly bigger Lucio under the water, throwing up golden sprinkles under the fading sun. Lucio raised a fore paw, batting away the smaller white cub, Hana dropped into the water with a plop. They were both laughing.   
  
The flute stopped its wayward tune. " _ What do  _ you  _ want? _ "   
  
"I want to belong," Jack admitted. "But I don't know where that is anymore..."   
  
Gold-tailless chuckled, he ruffled the fur behind Jack's ears before raising himself onto his hind legs and making his way over to the fire pits. Jack watched the man's back go, silhouetted against the fire's warm glow.   
  
" _ If you don't know, go find out _ ." He seemed to say.   
  
\---   
  
The sun's rays warmed the earth, melting the snow and leaving only fragments of their white patches across the ground. The cool breeze that swept over the land smelt of wet earth and growing things. Grass bowed in the breeze, their tips unraveling in the first hints of Spring, bidding farewell to the Winter.    
  
The horses brayed, stamping against the ground with their hoofed feet. Feathers and beads were threaded into their manes, more hung from threads that circled their broad chests and glimmered on the saddle on their backs. They tossed their mighty heads, the beads clattering against their necks. Jack watched, mesmerised by the colours that played across the rich brown coats. The stallion of the herd caught the white wolf's eyes. Snorting, the beast threw its head back, shaking out the long flowing mane. Jack grinned,  _ show off _ .   
  
"Jack!"   
  
He turned his head just in time to see Lucio bounding up. The grey cub had a single feather threaded behind his ears accompanied by beads of green and gold.   
  
"Gold-tailless was looking for you," he panted. "I think he's nearly done with Hana."   
  
"Finally," growled Jack. "I was beginning to think he must have given up."   
  
Lucio grinned, showing pearly canines. "You know Hana, she can't sit still even if her life depended on it. I'm not sure how Gold-tailless endured it!"   
  
Jack snorted. Today was a special occasion, at least for the humans. Today they would ride out onto the thawing plains to hunt, among them would be young boys and girls who were ready to make their first kills and therefore be recognised by their human pack as adults. Jack understood the significance, even amongst wolves the first kill - and therefore a successful hunt - would mean a cub was ready to become a full-fledged member of a pack. What surprised him was that the humans had included Jack and the two wolf-cubs in their festivities.   
  
Hana and Lucio had been ecstatic. The chance to go on their first real hunt had filled the cubs with endless energy. Jack reminded them that the humans would probably be the ones making kills but that had not dampened their spirits. Which reminded him...   
  
"Will you be alright by yourself?" Jack asked the grey cub.   
  
"I'll be fine," Lucio assured him. "Besides, I'm not alone. Night-fur will be with me."   
  
Night-fur was a she-tailless with long flowing black hair cascading from under her hat. Her skin was a shade darker than her fellow humans, her features were hawk-like and her eyes resembled the birds more so. The humans had decided to split up on the plains to cover more ground, which also meant the wolves had to split up too. It had been decided that Jack would stay with Hana while Lucio went alone with another human. Night-fur now stood a ways from the wolves, checking the leather straps that secured her saddle bags to her horse. A bow was slung across her back, a quiver and scabbard of matching black and gold sat on her right hip. Nodding to herself once, she turned and putting two fingers to her mouth, she gives an earsplitting whistle.   
  
Lucio visibly winces. "Looks like I gotta go," he growls, rubbing a paw over an abused ear. "Look after Hana okay?"   
  
Without waiting for an answer, the grey cub bounded away to join his human. Night-fur bends to scratch Lucio's ears once before swinging herself into the saddle. Clucking to the horse, the human and wolf galloped onto the grassy plains, quickly fading from view. Jack watched them go. He had taught Lucio and Hana how to hunt and how to take care of themselves on the grasslands. But actually watching the cub leap onto the golden fields with another human filled the white wolf with an uncomfortable feeling of which he could not name.   
  
Lucio should be with Hana and him. The two cubs would be able to truly feel what it was like hunting in a pack...and he would be able to protect them if anything happened. Jack shivered and quickly shrugged off the sudden feeling of dread that had come to drape around his shoulders. Night-fur was a capable hunter and would look after Lucio perfectly. He on the other paw, had to look after a hyperactive furball. Picking his way around the horses and tents, he made his way to where he had last seen Gold-tailless and Hana.   
  
The human was busy tying his own quiver to his hip, his bow was already strapped to the back of a chestnut mare who waited patiently in the shadows of a tent. Jack blinked as he approached, instead of a white cub who sat at the feet of the human, the cub was nearly fully black with beady brown eyes. Two feathers were threaded into her scruff with red and gold beads accompanying them.    
  
"Jack!" Hana howled."Look at me! I'm a black wolf now!"   
  
Black wolf. Gabriel. Jack quickly brushed away the thoughts - now was not the time.   
  
"A black wolf eh?" He asked mischievously. "What do you call this?"   
  
He brought his forepaw up to poke a glaringly white patch on the cub's belly. Hana batted away his paw and rolled into a crouch.   
  
"You can't see it if I'm crouching anyway," she growled. "Come on! Admit it, this is pretty cool."   
  
"Alright  _ 'pretty cool _ '," he chuckled. "Move along, it's my turn."   
  
As he padded forward, Gold-tailless moved to kneel before him. The human swept his fore paws over the ashes of a dying fire, they came away black with soot. Silently, Gold-tailless offered his soot-streaked palms to the wolf.   
  
Lucio had taught Jack many things about humans, but what the cub could not teach was that humans were full of surprises. The humans were not fast, so they used horses. They had no claws, so they used knives. They could not hide, so they wore clothing to better meld with the land. It shocked Jack that he never once thought about rolling in mud to cover his white pelt, it would have solved so many problems all those moons ago. But however late it was, he could change all of that now.   
  
He dipped his head in a bow, Gold-tailless - acknowledging his permission - brought his palms across the white wolf's pelt, turning it black as night. The ordeal was short, Gold-tailless gently massaged the soot into his fur, taking care to cover every inch of his white pelt down to the tip of his tail. When he was done, he looped a thread around the now-black-wolf's neck. Hana gasped.   
  
Jack blinked his eyes open, glancing down, he inhaled sharply. The thread necklace was beautiful, woven from sheep's wool, it was dyed a sky blue with embroidery of white and gold. He could make out the image of a flying hawk, swaying golden grass and what looked like jagged white peaks - a depiction of the glacier where he had fallen. Feathers were tied to the underside of the necklace so that they dangled across his front, he recognised the feathers of the sparrow hawks that often flew high above the human's homes. He snapped his eyes up to meet Gold-tailless' brown orbs, the human chuckled. Ruffling Jack's ears, he stood and swung himself into the saddle of his mare. Jack rose to stand by the horse's hooves, Hana following closely.   
  
When Gold-tailless turned his horse onto the swaying golden fields, Jack bounded after him with Hana at his side.   
  
\---   
  
The grasslands were full of prey emerging from hibernation, they filled the swaying land with sounds of scuffling and squeaks. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the land offered its rich bounty to the hunters.   
  
The leafy fronds tickling his fur, Gabriel slinked across the ground, ears angled forward. Not a few feet before him was an antelope calf. The tiny thing wobbled on four stick-like legs, its thin ears bobbing with the motion. The mother was nowhere in sight. Good, an easy game was always welcome.   
  
And especially after all that's happened...he needed things easy.   
  
Jack's death had dug a hole so deep within him that no matter how he tried, he could not fill. Returning to the pack after the incident, he felt no peace, no solace. Ana and Angela's words of kindness and condolences fell on deaf ears. Lena and Jesse's attempts at cheering the black wolf were either shot down or brushed away. Reinhardt had tried to console Gabriel but he had refused to listen to the agouti wolf's words. Instead the black wolf had thrown himself into the daily chores of the pack, hunting and patrolling the territory till his paws hurt. The others would join him, they would exchange polite conversation but no more than Gabriel deemed necessary. Ana believed that time would heal his heart, the others were not so easily convinced.   
  
As the gulf between him and his pack-mates widened, Gabriel had done the only thing that made sense. Approaching his gathered pack one night, he had uttered four words:   
  
"I need to go."   
  
The younger wolves were not happy to see him go, Jesse even went as far as to offer to leave with him. But Gabriel had declined, stating that he just needed to be alone. At this, most of the pack had nodded their agreement and bade him farewell and good luck. As he moved to leave, Reinhardt had approached the black wolf.   
  
"You're always welcome in the Northern Pack,"  he had said. "Whenever you need it, just remember you have a home here - with us."   
  
And from there he had wandered alone. Not quite an outcast, but not belonging either.    
  
The calf flicked its ears up, head swinging in alert.    
  
Gabriel dropped to the ground, belly brushing the muddy earth. Silently, he scolded himself for letting his mind wander. He was no longer in a pack he reminded himself; there were no other wolves to help him kill, he had to do it all by himself. As the calf's ears drooped once more, Gabriel crept forward, paws barely touching the ground. His eyes watched the animal, his own ears twitched in the wind - sensing and listening. His muscles tensed and he leapt.   
  
The calf managed a panicked call before the jaws cut off its breath. Gabriel sank his teeth deeply, snapping the neck of the calf and tasting its blood on his tongue. His belly rumbled; the calf would feed him well. He dropped the carcass on top of his paws, pink tongue gliding over his teeth to lick up the stray droplets. He was about to begin feasting when the sound of horse hooves reached his ears. His head and ears perked in full alert. His hackles rose and a growl rumbled deep in his chest as he spotted the lone horse and it's human rider.    
  
The human was leaning forward in his saddle, his earthy green robe flapped in the wind, a ring of gold was fixed into one of his ears. An arrow was nocked in a bow of deep brown with silver engravings, the equally brown eyes of the human were focused on something far ahead of him. Gabriel's eyes darted forward and widened in surprise.   
  
Keeping a ways ahead of the human, two black wolves streaked in hot pursuit of a grown antelope...   
  
\---   
  
"Hana!" Jack howled. "Flank it!"   
  
"I'm on it!" Hana replied before darting away, her black (and still-somewhat-white) pelt fading quickly amongst the swaying grass.   
  
Jack flattened his ears against the rushing wind, paws thumping loudly on the earth as he continued the hunt.  _ Bad luck _ . The antelope had spotted them before they could approach and now it had the head-start in what was quickly growing into a long chase. Gold-tailless had tried to put an arrow in the animal but the antelope had balked; causing the arrow to go wide. Unwilling to let it get away, the three of them had attempted to pursue the fleeing beast.   
  
Jack snarled, his paws beat harder as the gap between him and the antelope began to dwindle and close. He could smell the panic coming off the animal in waves, he was so close he could even see the white around it's eyes. Howling once more, he leapt.   
  
He connected with the antelope's rump. Swiftly, he buried his teeth and claws into the pale brown pelt. The beast brayed, blood dripping from the wounds on its backside - but refused to slow. Shifting its weight onto its front legs, the antelope kicked backwards. The hooves which would've cracked open a skull, connected with air. Jack was rolling away, ducking to avoid the stamping hooves. Quickly, he righted himself and snarled at the antelope. The animal brandished its horns at the wolf, so distracted was it that it did not see the black blotch that leapt for it's neck.   
  
Hana's teeth sank deep into the vulnerable part of the antelope's white neck. The beast teetered with the cub dangling from it's fur, not quite giving in. It made one more attempt to flee, trembling legs moving to bring it away. Jack quickly leapt forward, closing strong jaws around the stick-like hind leg. The beast brayed once more, trying to free itself from the two wolves.   
  
The arrow that pierced its heart cut off its scratching cry. Gold-tailless was riding up, a now empty bow in his forepaws. In a smooth motion, he had dismounted and was approaching them.    
  
Panting, Jack released the antelope's hind leg. At the other end, Hana gingerly let go of the animal's neck - almost as if she expected the beast to stand up and flee. Tongue lolling out the corner of her mouth, she met Jack's blue eyes.   
  
"I-I did it!" She panted. "I-I made my first kill!"   
  
Jack chuckled. Moving to stand beside the cub, he nuzzled the little wolf between the ears. "Yes, you did..." His eyes glinted mischievously. "With help."   
  
" _ Aww come on! _ " Hana howled. "Just lemme have it - you  _ know _ I had it!"    
  
"Alright, alright," He laughed. "I'll give it to you."   
  
Hana snorted, flicking her tail in a mixture of annoyance and un-masked pride, her nose tilted to the air. By then Gold-tailless had reached them, the human dropped to scratch the cub's ears murmuring what sounded like praises. Hana's chest puffed out and the smug grin on her little face continued to stretch. Jack chuckled once more.    
  
"Come on little hunter," he said, amused. "The day's still young, let's see what else you can do."   
  
The two wolves waited as Gold-tailless tied the antelope's body to his horse's back and mounted before continuing their journey across the grasslands. They didn't have much time to catch their breaths, prey small and large alike practically jumped into their paws. The three of them worked hard; it wasn't long before Hana had successfully attempted several solo kills and Jack was bringing in his own share as well. By the time the sun was high in the sky, Gold-tailless' mare was burdened with too much prey. When the human finally called for a break, Hana flopped onto the ground - too tired to move.   
  
"Who knew hunting could be so much work," she grumbled.   
  
"I  _ did _ warn you," Jack chided.   
  
"You didn't warn me enough." With that, she rolled over - baring her white patched belly to the sky.   
  
Jack laid down on the grass bed, feeling the dew-soaked fronds seep into and cool his aching muscles. He laid his head down upon his paws, eyes sliding shut; he dozed. He could feel the cloth necklace against his neck, the feathers gently fluttering in the breeze. Somewhere behind him, Gold-tailless was gnawing on fruits while offering Hana a piece of salted meat. The little cub took it and chewed it down with gusto. Crickets were singing from their hiding places in the grass while bees buzzed lazily overhead - he dreamt.   
  
_ He was in the golden fields once more. It's warm and comfortable among the endless swaying grass. He raises his head to look around. Like before, he's looking for someone. Someone he hopes to see and yet... _   
  
The distant howl of a wolf jolts him from his slumber. Jack is awake and alert on his paws, his ears twitching in the breeze. The howl echoes once more. It was far away and he can't quite make out the notes, the voices - but still he strains to hear it better. But the moment was over, the howls were gone, replaced with the gentle sashay of grass in the wind.   
  
"Do you think they'll come here?" A timid voice asked.   
  
Jack looked down to find Hana cautiously padding to his side. The cub's eyes had lost their usual playful gleam and were now filled with apprehension and... _ grief _ ?   
  
"I doubt it," Jack began, picking his words carefully. "They probably have their own territory and they won't want to go anywhere near humans."   
  
Hana fidgeted, mulling over his answer.   
  
"Will you go there - to them?"   
  
"What?" Jack asked, startled.   
  
"I said, will you go to them?" Hana repeated patiently.   
  
"Why would I do that?"   
  
The cub shrugged. "You look like you want to."   
  
There was nothing he could say to that. Often he felt his mind drifting to the Northern Pack, the pack and the black wolf. He thought about Gabriel a lot. Whenever he wasn't spending time with the cubs or with Gold-tailless, the black wolf always wormed his way into his thoughts. He missed the black wolf, yes. But he was a white wolf, a burden to any pack...and even to Gabriel. He thought of the last with a deep aching sadness, his white pelt had caused his exile, had even been what forced the event on the glacier all those moons ago, or so he believed. He would _ love _ to go back to Gabriel, to find and tell the black wolf he was alright - but was that truly best for  _ him _ ?   
  
Jack sighed, brushing away the thoughts he turned to Hana. "What about you? Do you want to go to them?"   
  
Hana was silent for a long moment. Emotions flashed across her face, too fast for Jack to catch but he thinks he sees longing, worry, fear and grief - he was sure of it now. The grief darkened the cub's face, the frown deepened and her muzzle drooped, her claws were digging valleys in the muddy ground.   
  
"No," she finally answered. "I don't."   
  
The little cub said the last with such force that Jack wasn't sure whether or not she was trying to convince him or...herself.   
  
\---   
  
When they finally resumed the hunt, Hana lapsed into silence. Jack kept an eye on the cub. Sure enough, Hana had lost most of her energy and was dragging her paws across the ground. He wondered what had cooled the hyperactive, joyful cub off. But if grief was any indication, he would be better off not asking questions. Instead Jack threw himself into the hunt with renewed energy, the blood rushing in his ears and the ache in his muscles burnt a path through his thoughts - so that he could think of nothing else but the next kill. Hana kept pace with the older wolf, matching him kill for kill. But her movements had become more direct, more vicious - almost as if she was trying to shred away her dark thoughts with every swipe, bury them with every kill.   
  
The next stop they made was by a lake covered with ice. The ice had been glossed over, so clear and glassy was it that it reflected the sky and all that was above it. Gold-tailless had dismounted and was leading his mare by the reins - skirting the edges of the lake. Behind him, Jack followed while eyeing the icy lake with distaste. As beautiful as the mirror-ice-lake was, one dunk in an icy lake had set him for life - he would rather not repeat the ordeal, thank you very much. But if he knew mother nature by now, he would know she _ loved _ shitting on white wolves.   
  
"Hana," he called. "Don't get too close to the ice."   
  
The cub had reached out to inspect the mirror-like lake, one paw outstretched to the glossy surface. Gently, she prodded the ice.   
  
" _ Hana _ ..."   
  
"Oh, let off!" Hana snarled. "You're not my Pa!"   
  
Jack's head jerked up. " _ What _ did you just say?"   
  
"You heard me, you're not my Pa!"   
  
Jack's ears flicked back and forth, a growl rumbled in his chest. He never  _ said _ he was, he just wanted to look out for the little cub. That  _ and _ Lucio had asked him to look after his friend. He was about the give the cub a piece of his mind when yowls suddenly broke out.   
  
Gold-tailless' mare reared, hooves kicking the air as four wild cats leapt from their hiding places, hissing and spitting. The human himself drew a knife from his belt, it's silver blade gleaming in the light. Waving it before him, he kept two of the large cats at bay while also desperately reaching behind him to calm his mare. Jack was not so lucky, one of the large grey-spotted cats dove straight for him, bowling him over. He snarled, they were reduced to tooth and claws as both struggled for the upper-hand. The cat's claws raked down his side even as he bit down on the fluffy shoulder - the cat's pained yowl piercing his ears.   
  
Out the corner of his eye, he spots the last wildcat making a beeline for Hana. The cat was twice - if not thrice - the size of the cub, all muscles and power. The force knocked Hana off her paws, she twisted, howling. The canines that were aimed at her throat closed around her scruff instead, the feather and beads that were threaded into her fur fell to the muddy earth. She kicked, snarling, her claws glanced off the fluffy cat's pelt as if she had tried to scratch the tough bark of a tree. The large cat, unperturbed by the struggling furball between its teeth, adjusted its grip on the little wolf and was about to retreat with its prize when Hana tore her scruff from its jaws.   
  
Blood pouring from the wound, the soot-streaked-black-cub darted onto the mirror lake. The  grey cat yowled, spitting out the wad of fur before giving chase.   
  
" _ No _ !" Jack howled. " _ Hana _ !"   
  
He lunged forward, biting his own opponent in the shoulder once more. This time Jack bit deep enough to feel bones. Hooking his forepaws to the large cat's sides, he dug his hind legs into the cat's belly. His claws ripped the cat's belly open. Yowling in pain, the cat bit down on his tender ears - forcing him to lose his grip. Quickly, the cat extracted itself from the wolf, fleeing with a badly bleeding belly. Whirling, Jack darted after the large cat pursuing Hana. His paws hit the icy surface hard, he swore he felt the ground shift but forced himself onward.   
  
The large cat pounced. Hana ducked, barely missing the curved claws that tried to grab her. The wildcat went sliding across the slippery surface, it was too much to hope that the cat would keep sliding - claws hooking into the ice, the wildcat rightened itself and darted after the injured cub. Breath rasping in her own ears, Hana dodged and scrambled her way across the ice. It was strange seeing her own reflection as she ran, the messy soot-streaked pelt, the blood dripping from the wound on her neck...the panic that was in her eyes. Surely she did not look like that!   
  
Large claws clipped her hind legs, startling a howl out of her. Her paws slipped on the ice, sending her sprawling and gliding across the ice. The large cat followed its advantage, leaping to the air, Hana had no doubt the landing would crush her skull. Rolling quickly, she dodged the landing of the large grey paws. But felt the ice give beneath her with a sickening crunch.   
  
She plunged into ice cold water with a panicked yelp. The water wasted no time, seeping in to soak her fur, weighing her down. Her paws worked furiously, kicking at the water who threatened to pull her under. Strong jaws closed around what remained of her scruff, she snarled in pain at the contact but fell limp at the sight of the dangling blue necklace.   
  
Jack hauled the soaking cub from the lake, the soot that had dyed Hana's pelt black had been washed off in her dunking. Grunting from the effort, he began to retreat from the gaping hole in the ice - only to have the wildcat emerge from its watery depths and close its piercing canines around his fore leg. A muffled howl escaped his jaws as the wildcat pulled, dragging Jack forward. His forepaws slipped, dropping his shoulders into the lake with a splash. The weight on his hind legs was too much, with another crunch, the shattered ice dumped his rump into the lake.   
  
Jack's forepaws kicked out and he strained his neck, trying to keep Hana's head above the water - the cub yelped against the cold but otherwise did not struggle in his grip. Even now the cat hissed, trying to push aside the wolf and simultaneously reach the safety of solid ice. It succeeded in neither, Jack huffed when the cat's clawed paws raked against his belly under the water. Grunting, he returned the strike, earning a strangled yowl from the panicked wildcat. He kicked out once more, trying to distance himself from the struggling animal. His muscles burned despite the cold nipping at his skin, his head buzzed. Dimly he remembered clawing at solid ice, trying to pull himself and the cub out of the water.   
  
The weight was too much, he sagged against the ice, feeling the gentle waves lap at his now-white fur - the soot all but washed away. His eyes squinted shut from the effort, trying to drag them out, but the effort was too great...   
  
Jack felt the teeth sink into his own scruff. Through the thin slits of his eyelids, he thought he saw... _ a black pelt _ ? The unknown creature pulled Jack and Hana from the lake and even moved them to the safety of the shore before retreating. By the time Jack had recovered enough to look up, his unknown saviour had melted into the growing shadows. Jack's ears flicked back and forth, scattering water droplets from the tips, looking for signs of the one who had saved his life. The whimper at his paws broke him from his thoughts.   
  
"Hana?" He rumbled, poking the limp white lump. "Hana, can you hear me?"   
  
The white cub shrank, curling in on herself. Her eyes were screwed shut, her body shaking against the cold. Leaning closer, Jack could hear the cub whining over and over...   
  
" _ Please. Please, I'll be good...Don't leave me. I'll be good...Please...Don't leave me. _ "   
  
"I'm not going anywhere," Jack murmured. He wasn't sure if Hana even heard him. Instead, he gathered the white cub against his own bloodied pelt; keeping her warm against the harsh winds blowing off the lake. With the last of the wildcats fleeing and Gold-tailless injured but more or less intact. The party gathered themselves, Hana riding in the arms of the human on his mare and Jack limping by their side - they slowly made their way back home.   
  
\---   
  
Gabriel watched, panting. His black fur was soaked to his skin and his jaw ached as if he had tried dragging a log rather than two wolves - nevermind that one was a cub.   
  
How shocked he had been, when the black had melted off the wolf's fur revealing a snow-white pelt. Those sky blue eyes that were filled with concern for the equally white cub... Gabriel knew only  _ one _ other wolf who would readily throw himself into danger even if it meant putting his own life at risk.   
  
Belly gliding across the earth, the black wolf stealthily crept after the human and the two wolves.   
  



End file.
